Tag Archives: MALDEF

Abbott gives on legislative privilege

Posted on May 27, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

About time. In an effort to move to trial more quickly, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has quietly dropped his opposition to the Department of Justice’s request to take depositions from state lawmakers in the voter identification case. In March, … Continue reading →

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Fifth Circuit rules against Farmers Branch

Posted on March 26, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

I almost missed this. A federal appeals court has upheld the ruling that struck down a Farmers Branch renters ordinance aimed at banning illegal immigrants from rental housing in the city. The decision by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of … Continue reading →

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Weekend redistricting update

Posted on February 19, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

One more plaintiff has signed on to the Abbott map deal. The Mexican American Legislative Caucus is now joining the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund in saying that the state-backed Congressional District 35, a proposed new district that … Continue reading →

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While we wait for another deal, if there is one

Posted on February 8, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Michael Li reminds us what comes next. The San Antonio court has scheduled a hearing on interim maps and the election schedule for next Wednesday, February 15, with briefs on a broad range of issues due this Friday. That gives … Continue reading →

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The numbers in the “deal”

Posted on February 7, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

As I start to type this I have no idea if the “deal” that was announced earlier today will be in effect or on the trash heap. I think it’s instructive to look at the numbers in the proposed maps … Continue reading →

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Redistricting settlement deal looking unlikely

Posted on February 1, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Late last week we heard about the possibility of a settlement agreement in the San Antonio redistricting case that would allow for the creation of interim maps in time to keep the April 3 primary date. The court gave this … Continue reading →

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Reports from SCOTUS redistricting arguments

Posted on January 9, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

There’s almost too much information to parse on the legal arguments made before the Supreme Court over the Texas redistricting maps. Let’s start with The Hill: The Supreme Court justices grappled to find a way to resolve a messy Texas … Continue reading →

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A field guide to the school finance lawsuits

Posted on December 28, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

The Trib has a handy overview of the school finance lawsuits – who the plaintiffs are, who their lawyers are, and on what grounds they are suing. Among other things, it shows that I was correct in saying that there … Continue reading →

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And then there were three

Posted on December 15, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Three school finance lawsuits, that is. Flanked by Edgewood Superintendent Jose Cervantes, parents, students and community leaders from Texas districts, MALDEF attorney David Hinojosa highlighted three key claims in its suit at a press conference Tuesday. The lawsuit claims the … Continue reading →

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State objects to court-drawn maps

Posted on November 20, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

No surprise. Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott’s office on Friday slammed an interim redistricting map proposed by a three-judge panel in San Antonio, saying the federal jurists overstepped their bounds in redrawing House and Senate district lines that could cost … Continue reading →

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The districts in dispute

Posted on September 19, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

The redistricting lawsuit in San Antonio wrapped up on Friday, so at this point all we can do is wait for the three-judge panel to issue its opinion, and for the DC Circuit Court to have it say on preclearance. … Continue reading →

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Even their own experts think the Congressional map is wrong

Posted on September 16, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Final arguments in the federal redistricting lawsuit should be heard today in San Antonio. On Wednesday, something truly remarkable happened during the testimony of the state’s expert witness: A Rice University political science professor, testifying Wednesday in a lawsuit over … Continue reading →

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Redistricting litigation gets underway this week

Posted on September 5, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Starting tomorrow, a three-judge panel in San Antonio will hear one of the two redistricting-related lawsuits that have been filed in Texas. I figure this is as good a time as any to review the landscape as we head into … Continue reading →

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DPS loses lawsuit over drivers license rules

Posted on August 12, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

This happened the week before last, but I’m not sure it will matter at this point. On [July 29], Judge Orlinda Naranjo ruled against the Texas Department of Public Safety and said that the agency could no longer require those … Continue reading →

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Two other views of Texas redistricting

Posted on June 16, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s a fascinating paper from the Harvard Election Data Archive that attempts to project how many Congressional seats each party will win based on statewide performance. Based on the 2008 presidential election results, twenty-two of the twenty-three current Republican members … Continue reading →

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Plans from an alternate universe: Uresti and Gallegos

Posted on June 14, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Continuing with the Redistricting Plans From An Alternate Universe series, we’ve seen the Veasey-West proposal, now here are two more from the Senate debate. First, we have Sen. Carlos Uresti, who presented an amendment to Plan C136 that was aimed … Continue reading →

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The Seliger-Solomons Congressional map is out

Posted on June 1, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

And it’s a joke. Seriously, I can’t describe it any other way. Look at the following districts – go to http://gis1.tlc.state.tx.us/ and look up Plan C125 – and tell me how they can possibly satisfy any rational legal argument for … Continue reading →

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Veasey’s Congressional plan

Posted on May 31, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

We didn’t get a Congressional map from the Senate Redistricting Committee, though we may now get one in a special session but that didn’t stop State Rep. Marc Veasey from drawing his own before sine die. In Veasey’s map, thirteen … Continue reading →

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Chron story about the House redistricting map

Posted on April 15, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s what the Chron had to say about the initial redistricting map for the State House. I’m just going to focus on a couple of things: The statewide map creates one new Latino district, maintains the current number of black … Continue reading →

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Let’s not look for excuses

Posted on April 12, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Last week, MALDEF released a Congressional redistricting plan for Texas that was aimed at drawing two new Latino Congressional seats. Paul Burka has a complaint about one of the districts they drew. The other district in Plan 108C is the … Continue reading →

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Farmers Branch loses in court yet again

Posted on March 29, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Yet another loss in court for the city of Farmers Branch and its efforts to make apartment owners check potential renters’ immigration status. The City of Farmers Branch enacted ordinance 2952 in 2008 but today’s decision in the U.S. District … Continue reading →

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State sales tax revenues way down

Posted on November 20, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

The 2011 legislative session is going to be so much fun. Sales tax revenues have taken double-digit dives for five months running; in each of those months, the state’s income from those taxes has been more than 10 percent lower … Continue reading →

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Court issues injunction against DPS over drivers license rules

Posted on April 11, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

A district court judge has suspended the new drivers license rules implemented by the Department of Public Safety pending a civil trial on the grounds that DPS didn’t have the authority to do what it did. The rules prevent thousands … Continue reading →

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Another lawsuit filed against DPS

Posted on January 30, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

That makes two such suits over the new DPS policy of verifying residency status in order to get a drivers license. The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund filed the lawsuit in state district court in Austin. It’s on … Continue reading →

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